320 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



if they be provoked by some injury, they will both bite and 

 strike, otherwise not. Their pace is a trot." 



The Hungarian horses have been continually improved by 

 the introduction of Libyan blood, derived largely in later 

 centuries through Turkish channels. Accordingly it is not 

 surprising that the Hungarian horse, drawn by Stradanus 

 (Fig. 91), in the "Stable of Don John of Austria," shows little 

 resemblance to the animals described by Vegetius except as 

 regards the copiousness of the mane and tail, which were 

 probably inherited from the ancient horses of the Danubian 

 region. The old Hungarian horse was usually of a bay colour 

 and without any white on the legs, but grey, dun, and chestnut 

 were likewise often found. Since the early part of the last 

 century this type has been entirely changed owing to the 

 constant importation of English thoroughbreds, when the 

 Government began to breed for military purposes and en- 

 couraged the farmers to do likewise. " In almost all cases the 

 Government stallions were half-bred English, and these were 

 placed at breeding depots all over the country 1 ." As is well 

 known, Hungary at the present time supplies some of the best 

 cavalry horses in the world. 



I have already pointed out that the black horses of Western 

 Asia, Spain, and Italy all result from a mixture of the African 

 bay with the indigenous horses of Asia and Europe. If this 

 principle is sound, the same colour ought to characterize 

 strongly the horses of the Upper Balkan and Danubian regions. 

 But large black horses are so distinctive a feature not only 

 of this area, but also of those lying to the east, that the 

 cavalry of Austria and Russia has been regularly mounted on 

 horses of this colour. Our evidence now makes it clear that 

 black is not an original colour of the horse either in Europe, 

 Asia, or Africa, but that it is an artificial product arising from 

 the mixing of the African stock with the Asiatic-European 

 indigenous horses in the three southern peninsulas of Europe, 

 in Syria, Anatolia, and other parts of Western Asia. 



Let us next pass into Northern Italy and France. Now 



1 Hayes, Points of the Horse (ed. 3), pp. 531-2, embodying the notes of 

 Mr Reynolds (M.R.C.V.S.). 



